General Information

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He spent his time fighting Batman, hoping to corrupt him. However, eventually he got the hint that Batman would not be corrupted easily, so he changed tactics and tried to corrupt Superman, feeling it was easier to do so with him. To this end, he managed to create a Kryptonian-based strain of the Scarecrow's Fear Toxin, and presumably abducted Superman's wife, Lois Lane, who was pregnant with Superman's child. He then implanted Lane with a detonator for a nuclear weapon that he somehow stole and timed the detonator to activate the precise moment Lois Lane died. He then drugged Superman with the Fear Toxin, and tricked Superman into murdering Lois Lane and their unborn child by having him think he was fighting Doomsday. Just as he anticipated, Superman ended up killing them while drugged, only realizing what he had done shortly thereafter, and Metropolis ended up destroyed by a nuclear bomb, wiping out millions. The Joker was presumably arrested by the GCPD and interrogated by Batman. However, before Batman could interrogate the Joker further, Superman blasted his way into the interrogation room, enraged at the Joker's role in the destruction of Metropolis, and especially at the deaths of Lois and their child. Joker then tried to egg Superman on into murdering him, also making clear he wanted to top the destruction of Metropolis if he were to escape. Despite Batman's efforts in stopping Superman, the Joker ultimately was killed by Superman by having his heart ripped out, with the Joker laughing as he died due to having successfully corrupted Superman.

The Joker's actions eventually resulted in Superman rebuilding Metropolis and creating the One World Regime to destroy crime. However, Superman became dictatorial in his regime.

Ironically, the means in which he managed to break Superman: abducting his wife Lois Lane, and manipulating him into killing her and her unborn child via fear toxin, were similar to how Joker himself had fallen into evil in Batman: The Killing Joke.

Just prior to his death, Joker, in response to Batman questioning him as to how he acquired the nuke he used to destroy Metropolis, insults him by calling him "Copy-Bat." This was the same insult that Joker gave in the Batman and Superman crossover episode World's Finest when seeing Batman seemingly fly in a similar manner to Superman.